The Message Bible MSG
The Latin Vulgate VUL
1 There was a man of the Pharisee sect, Nicodemus, a prominent leader among the Jews.
1
erat autem homo ex Pharisaeis Nicodemus nomine princeps Iudaeorum
2 Late one night he visited Jesus and said, "Rabbi, we all know you're a teacher straight from God. No one could do all the God-pointing, God-revealing acts you do if God weren't in on it."
2
hic venit ad eum nocte et dixit ei rabbi scimus quia a Deo venisti magister nemo enim potest haec signa facere quae tu facis nisi fuerit Deus cum eo
3 Jesus said, "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to - to God's kingdom."
3
respondit Iesus et dixit ei amen amen dico tibi nisi quis natus fuerit denuo non potest videre regnum Dei
4 "How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"
4
dicit ad eum Nicodemus quomodo potest homo nasci cum senex sit numquid potest in ventrem matris suae iterato introire et nasci
5 Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation - the 'wind hovering over the water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life - it's not possible to enter God's kingdom.
5
respondit Iesus amen amen dico tibi nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu non potest introire in regnum Dei
6 When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch - the Spirit - and becomes a living spirit.
6
quod natum est ex carne caro est et quod natum est ex Spiritu spiritus est
7 "So don't be so surprised when I tell you that you have to be 'born from above' - out of this world, so to speak.
7
non mireris quia dixi tibi oportet vos nasci denuo
8 You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God."
8
Spiritus ubi vult spirat et vocem eius audis sed non scis unde veniat et quo vadat sic est omnis qui natus est ex Spiritu
9 Nicodemus asked, "What do you mean by this? How does this happen?"
9
respondit Nicodemus et dixit ei quomodo possunt haec fieri
10 Jesus said, "You're a respected teacher of Israel and you don't know these basics?
10
respondit Iesus et dixit ei tu es magister Israhel et haec ignoras
11 Listen carefully. I'm speaking sober truth to you. I speak only of what I know by experience; I give witness only to what I have seen with my own eyes. There is nothing secondhand here, no hearsay. Yet instead of facing the evidence and accepting it, you procrastinate with questions.
11
amen amen dico tibi quia quod scimus loquimur et quod vidimus testamur et testimonium nostrum non accipitis
12 If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don't believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can't see, the things of God?
12
si terrena dixi vobis et non creditis quomodo si dixero vobis caelestia credetis
13 "No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man.
13
et nemo ascendit in caelum nisi qui descendit de caelo Filius hominis qui est in caelo
14 In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up -
14
et sicut Moses exaltavit serpentem in deserto ita exaltari oportet Filium hominis
15 and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.
15
ut omnis qui credit in ipso non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam
16 "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.
16
sic enim dilexit Deus mundum ut Filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam
17 God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.
17
non enim misit Deus Filium suum in mundum ut iudicet mundum sed ut salvetur mundus per ipsum
18 Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
18
qui credit in eum non iudicatur qui autem non credit iam iudicatus est quia non credidit in nomine unigeniti Filii Dei
19 "This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God.
19
hoc est autem iudicium quia lux venit in mundum et dilexerunt homines magis tenebras quam lucem erant enim eorum mala opera
20 Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure.
20
omnis enim qui mala agit odit lucem et non venit ad lucem ut non arguantur opera eius
21 But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is."
21
qui autem facit veritatem venit ad lucem ut manifestentur eius opera quia in Deo sunt facta
22 After this conversation, Jesus went on with his disciples into the Judean countryside and relaxed with them there. He was also baptizing.
22
post haec venit Iesus et discipuli eius in iudaeam terram et illic demorabatur cum eis et baptizabat
23 At the same time, John was baptizing over at Aenon near Salim, where water was abundant.
23
erat autem et Iohannes baptizans in Aenon iuxta Salim quia aquae multae erant illic et adveniebant et baptizabantur
24 This was before John was thrown into jail.
24
nondum enim missus fuerat in carcerem Iohannes
25 John's disciples got into an argument with the establishment Jews over the nature of baptism.
25
facta est ergo quaestio ex discipulis Iohannis cum Iudaeis de purificatione
26 They came to John and said, "Rabbi, you know the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan? The one you authorized with your witness? Well, he's now competing with us. He's baptizing, too, and everyone's going to him instead of us."
26
et venerunt ad Iohannem et dixerunt ei rabbi qui erat tecum trans Iordanen cui tu testimonium perhibuisti ecce hic baptizat et omnes veniunt ad eum
27 John answered, "It's not possible for a person to succeed - I'm talking about eternal success - without heaven's help.
27
respondit Iohannes et dixit non potest homo accipere quicquam nisi fuerit ei datum de caelo
28 You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready.
28
ipsi vos mihi testimonium perhibetis quod dixerim ego non sum Christus sed quia missus sum ante illum
29 The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his 'best man' - that's me - in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start?
29
qui habet sponsam sponsus est amicus autem sponsi qui stat et audit eum gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi hoc ergo gaudium meum impletum est
30 This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.
30
illum oportet crescere me autem minui
31 "The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own.
31
qui desursum venit supra omnes est qui est de terra de terra est et de terra loquitur qui de caelo venit supra omnes est
32 He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts.
32
et quod vidit et audivit hoc testatur et testimonium eius nemo accipit
33 But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth.
33
qui accipit eius testimonium signavit quia Deus verax est
34 "The One that God sent speaks God's words. And don't think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces.
34
quem enim misit Deus verba Dei loquitur non enim ad mensuram dat Deus Spiritum
35 The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away - a lavish distribution of gifts.
35
Pater diligit Filium et omnia dedit in manu eius
36 That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn't see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that."
36
qui credit in Filium habet vitam aeternam qui autem incredulus est Filio non videbit vitam sed ira Dei manet super eum